Something New
by electric-clementine
Summary: "You see, it was pointed out recently that I don't have any friends that aren't related to me or in Gryffindor." Celia Wilson was perfectly happy with her current friends and making it through her last year without any trouble. When James Potter, fittest guy at school and renowned troublemaker, flies into her life via her dormitory window, she knew this wouldn't be the case.
1. the beginning

"Wilson."

I roll on to my side. It had been a long night of essays and catch-up work, so I was in no hurry to get out of bed and start the day. There were no classes; it was Saturday after all.

"Wilson?" The voice tries again. Whoever they were, they were interrupting some much needed alone time that I so desperately craved. Why could they just not leave me alone and come back in an hour or three? It was surely only 5am!

"I realise it's a bit early but I wouldn't have been able to get you later on! You know, what with quidditch practice and well, uh, detention." He finishes sheepishly. Wait a second... he?

I roll on to my back again, still with my eyes closed. "Benji go away," I mumble, "You know you aren't allowed in here." I flail my arm out at the same time, aiming to push my brother away from the bed. "And we've talked about calling me Wilson!"

My arm finally makes contact with his body but he doesn't falter, let alone leave my bedside, instead giving a light chuckle. "Wilson, I don't know if I should be amused or offended at the fact you think I'm your brother," the voice says.

Still with my eyes closed, I frown. If it wasn't Benji, who could it be? I can't say I know too many boys outside of Ravenclaw, and none of them would even dare to come in here after the last time.

"What happened last time?"

Ah, did I say that out loud? Well, I suppose that confirms it's not any Ravenclaws.

I choose to ignore the mystery boy's question and instead ask one of my own: "Who are you?"

"Open your eyes and find out!" he says cheerfully. So he's a morning person. Unfortunate.

Begrudgingly, I do as he says and am greeted with the grinning face of James Potter. Because of course it had to be James bloody Potter, Gryffindor quidditch captain, fittest guy in school, and extreme troublemaker. Whilst I had no crush on him of my own, I could appreciate that yes, he was good looking, and he was about to witness how incredibly unattractive I was in the mornings. Not that the rest of the day was better, but I managed.

"Potter?"

"Wilson!" he smiles.

"Why are you here? How did you get in here?" I look at the door, but it's closed. The window? I opened it last night to get a bit of air into the dorm, but the gap seemed no bigger than it did previously. Did Potter seriously fly in? Scanning the room for clues, I spot his broom on the floor, and that none of my friends are in their beds. God, I must have overslept! But turning back to the matter at hand...

Potter is staring at me. He doesn't reply.

"Potter!" I click my fingers. "What do you want?"

Again, he makes no sound and continues staring. I sigh. This would've been much easier if literally anyone else was here. I shared a room with four other girls: Margot Knight, Riko Farmer, Mathilde Vincent and Jemima Clark; my closest friends. Jemima, otherwise known as Mim, had absolutely no trouble picking fights with anyone, regardless of age, height or gender. We had met on the train back in first year, where she had declared: "We're going to be best friends!" I met the rest of them when we had all been sorted into Ravenclaw, as excited little 11 year olds sleeping away from home for the first time. I'm sure any of them would know what to do in this situation, but alas.

"POTTER!"

Finally he snaps out of it, his cheeks ever so slightly blushing. Wow, did I just embarrass the great James Potter? The girls would love to hear about this later. He regains his composure and claps his hands together. I can feel him about to ask for some class notes or something - it wasn't uncommon to be asked for them due to being in Ravenclaw, but I've certainly never been woken up for them.

"Ah, sorry Wilson. Anyway, what I wanted to know was if you wanted to be friends?" He says simply.

"If... what?" Not class notes then.

"Do you want to be friends?" repeats Potter.

I sit up, and look at him properly for the first time. His dark hair is unkempt, pieces sticking out in all different directions. A small spattering of freckles are spread across his cheeks, just below his warm brown eyes outlined with long eyelashes. Why was it that boys got such lovely, curly, natural eyelashes but my ones are barely existent? I suddenly felt very self conscious in my old tank top and pyjama shorts - here he was looking like _that_, and I looked like this. Whilst I wasn't terrible-looking, I certainly wasn't on his level of being worshipped by everyone at this school. I could understand why girls wanted to be with him, and why boys literally wanted to be him.

"Potter, I don't know what you're playing at. We've barely spoken, and you don't know me at all."

This had to be another one of his stupid tricks. Just last week he charmed all of the teachers' chairs in the great hall to make sure none of the teachers could get up - earning him presumably what had been a long line of detentions, including this afternoon's. Potter was, annoyingly, clever. Although not the only troublemaker in his group of Gryffindors, he was admittedly one of the smartest, second only to Emil Larsson. I knew Emil, he was a good family friend and also a fellow prefect. I didn't speak to him much outside of lessons, but when we were occasionally scheduled for prefect duties together, we got along perfectly well due to numerous holiday visits.

Again, he smiles. "You see, it was pointed out recently that I don't have any friends that aren't related to me or in Gryffindor."

I open my mouth to interject, but he continues talking.

"I know, I know, I have a number of acquaintances in other houses but none of them are particularly close to me. That doesn't really look good on me as a good quidditch captain, who has repeatedly been asked to encourage some... inter-house unity." I notice his struggle to get those last words out. I mean, I couldn't argue with him there, indeed he was always surrounded by his dorm-mates and failing that, his family members. Yet still, the Hogwarts population was rife with Potter fans waiting for him to initiate friendship. However, I was cautious.

"Why me? You had the entire year to choose from! I'm really not that interesting. I just sit and read books and do homework all the time!"

At this point I'm just blabbering, but it's true. In our last year here I was planning on getting excellent NEWT grades, because I want to be a healer. My mother was a healer as well, but she had unfortunately passed away after... well, I won't go into it. But she inspires me every day, and I just want to make her proud. I doubt making friends with James Potter would rouse any sort of pride in her.

"You're friends with Emil aren't you? He tells me and the boys some funny stories about what you get up to in the holidays. You seem alright to me." Potter shrugs. Oh dear Merlin, what exactly did this guy know about me? I must remember to question Emil later on about these alleged stories.

"What's my name then?"

"What?" That throws him off guard.

"You've heard a lot about me, right? So what. Is. My. Name." I deliver with four pokes to his arm.

"Uhhh... Yeah it's Cecily, isn't it?" Potter guesses, rubbing his arm where I jabbed my finger.

"You want to be friends and you don't even know my name!" I say rolling my eyes. He was fairly close though; my name is Celia. I was named by my father as he loved this muggle playwright called William something-or-other, and she was one of the characters in a play he wrote.

I get out of bed using the side that he isn't blocking. Although I am hyperaware of Potter's presence, I decide that I will go on with my day as usual, and step into the bathroom. Well, I suppose I feel kind of sorry for him in a way. His only friends are his family - I'd hate it if my only friend was Benji. Poking my head out I say, "I'll think about it."

Potter grins at me and I close the door.

* * *

When I've finished showering and dressing, I go back into the bedroom and am again greeted with the sight of Potter. Lying on my bed.

"Just because we're friends does not mean you can claim my bed as your own." I grumble, "Potter, get off, I thought you left already!"

His eyes light up like he's just won a prize. "Wait, you said we were fr- Thank you so much! Call me James!"

"That's quite alright, Potter. My name is Celia. Call me Wilson." And with that, I exit the dormitory and go to breakfast, leaving Potter to celebrate our newfound friendship in the Ravenclaw girls' dormitory. Hopefully the girls are down in the Great Hall, so I can relay the whole story to them.

What a strange morning.

* * *

**so i thought i'd try writing again! i have written some truly awful stories in my time but i won't go into that haha. if anyone is reading, please let me know your thoughts by leaving a review! what do you think will happen next? thank you so much!**


	2. the breakfast

"Why did none of you think to wake me up?" I mutter, as I slide into my seat at the Ravenclaw table. The Great Hall is filled with people enjoying breakfast, four of them being my roommates. They all look at each other, willing someone to respond, when Margot speaks up.

"Well, I woke up in the night to use the toilet and I saw that you weren't in bed. I didn't wake to wake you so early 'cause I thought you needed the sleep!" She rushes through her response upon noticing my glare. I suppose was it a valid reason - I don't even know what time I left the common room last night, hence my sleep-deprived crankiness this morning. But I still suffered this morning! If I had been awake earlier, I could have escaped whatever I had got myself into.

Presumably, the girls see my death glare. "Celia, what's got your knickers in a twist? We gave you an extra half hour of sleep. You should be grateful!" Mim says. "I wouldn't've minded a few more minutes in bed at least!" She follows this with a laugh, which irks me even more.

"Yeah well maybe you should've stayed - I had the worst morning! There was... a visitor in the dorm." I couldn't bring myself to name him just this yet; there were too many relatives of his around the room that could be eavesdropping on us right now. It's not like we were the most interesting group of people to listen in on, but you can never be too careful. I take this moment to scan the hall: a few Weasleys with the middle Potter and Scorpius Malfoy, three of Potter's friends, and the usual bunch of students that I didn't know.

"A visitor? It wasn't Tristan again, was it?" Mim asks hesitantly. My friends all exchange worried looks. A few months ago The Incident, as we like to call it, occurred in our dorm. It involved Tristan Corner, a Ravenclaw in our year. He's a nice guy really; I've been paired up with him in Potions and Defence a few times and we've had a laugh. Well, we had a laugh until the boys in his dorm made him steal one of my _bras_ during a game of dares. I don't know what they were planning to do with it, but they clearly saw sense as Tristan tried to return it the next morning. There was a lot of shouting from us all, finished off with a particularly nasty Bat-Bogey Hex from myself. I was actually quite proud of that one as I had only just mastered it a week prior to that, but pretty unfortunate for Tristan. He avoids being partnered with me now, and can no longer look me in the eyes. Ah well, he deserved it - I haven't worn said bra since.

"No, worse. It was Potter." I hiss. Where was he anyway? Quidditch hadn't started yet because his friends were still eating. If he's still lying on my bed then dear Merlin he needs help.

"WHAT?"

"WHO?"

"WHY?"

I had been expecting this. It's not everyday the arguably most famous person at school just flies into your room. I look to the girl on my left. Riko was a cute girl with Japanese heritage. Her parents moved here just before she was born, and they gave her the choice of attending Hogwarts or Mahoutokoro back in Japan. Not wanting to stress her parents by going to school abroad, she decided on Hogwarts. On her first day here, she cut her hair into a rough fringe - which she's chosen to keep up until now (eventually evening it out in third year after much persuasion from us and her parents). Despite her dark hair she was quite pale, owing to the many hours spent inside studying with the rest of us. Actually, thinking about it, most of the dormitory weren't exactly the going out type, much preferring to remain in the library or content with a girls' night in.

"Ok, one at a time. Riko, you first." I say.

Riko opens her mouth but Margot gets there first. "Potter was in our dorm?" She frowns.

Myself and Margot were more wallflowers so to speak, remaining at the edge of the room with Riko to keep an eye on Mathilde and Mim, or even trying to avoid social events all together. Margot was painfully shy, and she knew it, only confiding in us and almost never contributing in class. It was understandable, in a school full of idiots and blabbermouths, that she kept her friends close. However, her most sought-after possession (after her intelligence, of course, classic Ravenclaw) were, strangely enough, her eyebrows. Above her hazel eyes were perfectly-shaped, thick, brown eyebrows, in contrast to her lighter brown hair. She was truly very pretty. All of my friends were in their own ways. Being a quarter Veela, Mathilde had golden hair and piercing blue eyes. However, she had chosen to reject whatever Veela charm she had in favour of intimidating anyone and everyone who bothered her. This is probably the main reason why people didn't tend to sit with us. Mathilde was scary, for lack of a better word.

Riko goes to continue when Mathilde shouts (again), earning us a few glances from neighbouring students. "WHAT DID HE WANT WITH YOU?" Wow, shout much Mathilde?

Mim interrupts her, tired of how long it's taken to get the information out of me, and tells Riko to ask her bloody question.

"I don't even remember what I wanted to say anymore it's been too long, just tell us everything." Riko says, kicking Mathilde under the table afterwards. She scowls, but nevertheless they are all (finally) silent.

I tell them everything that happened from the moment I woke up to the moment I left. After I finish my story I assess their reactions. Margot and Riko are staring at me with their mouths rounded into perfect 'O's. Looking at Mim directly in front of me, her usually smiling face has contorted into a deep frown. I can see her green eyes trying to focus on something, and she's rolling with a strand of hair between her fingers. I see her as having the most rational thoughts; being the closest to her, I trust her to tell me the truth and give good advice without getting too overly emotional.

But it's Mathilde who speaks first. "What the fuck? He's such a prat. Why'd you say yes?"

When I said the entire female population loved him, I conveniently forgot to mention Mathilde, who seems to hate everyone apart from her friends, fellow Ravenclaws, and her sister Celeste.

"I don't know, I guess I just felt sorry for him. If my brother was my only friend then I'd fling myself out of the nearest window!" I respond, and right on cue, he comes up to me from the other end of the table. "Speak of the devil," I mutter.

"Wilson!" My brother cries, and gives me a great big hug.

"Just because everyone else calls me Wilson, doesn't mean you have to. _Benjamin_," I say, emphasising his name. Well, Benji didn't get stuck being called a Muggle character, but he sure hated the full version of his name.

He winces, before continuing. "Sorry Celia, I can't help it. I'll stop, I promise! Just please don't call me-" He lowers his voice and looks around shiftily, "-Benjamin."

"Ok firstly, why are you looking around like no one knows what 'Ben' is short for, and secondly why are you here?" I can hear my friends holding back their laughs. My patience was really being tested today.

"Do you think you could lend me some money? Only a few Galleons - nothing major!" Benji gives me his best smile. As expected, he wanted something off me. I suppose I'd been saving up a while, so giving him a few wouldn't break the bank.

I open my mouth to reply, "Y–"

"You're my favourite sister thank you!" He says, then runs off to catch up with his friends waiting by the door.

"I'm your only sister!" I shout after him, watching him leave the Great Hall. As soon as Benji walks out, the subject of today's conversation walks in, and upon making eye contact with me, makes a beeline for the Ravenclaw table.

"Guys," I hiss to my friends, "Potter's coming!"

I slide down in my seat whilst Mim stares directly at him, Mathilde rolls her eyes, and Riko and Margot start making themselves look more presentable. Oh, the influence of James Potter.

"Celia!" Potter greets me, "Clark, Farmer, Knight, Vincent, hi to you guys as well." He sits down next to me.

Mathilde simply scoffs, and turns away from him. The other three remain silent.

"I said, call me Wilson."

"Ah, no can do I'm afraid. I call all of my friends by their first names." He grins. This seems to summon the rest of his Gryffindor buddies, because I can see them making their way to our spot. Oh for Merlin's sake, I've barely eaten any breakfast yet! I might have to go to the kitchens later on, if I can escape Potter.

The boys take whatever seats are free. Fred Weasley, as predicted, sits next to James. A dangerous duo, those two are, always up to something. Emil takes the empty space next to Margot, but accidentally knocks her glass of water over in the process. He curses, mops up the puddle with tissues, and rubs his forehead, all the while apologising profusely to the bemused girl. Margot gives him a small smile and says it's ok, and they begin a conversation. How strange, I've never seen Emil act that flustered around anyone, and outside of my immediate friends, I know him the best.

Jacob Wood, infamous flirt, sits next to Mathilde. "Hello, Mathilde, how're you doing?" he asks, rather nicely actually.

"Don't talk to me."

Nonetheless, Wood persists. "So, how would you like to come to Hogsmeade with me next Saturday?" Well, that's quite forward isn't it? He's been here for approximately five minutes and he's already asking her out. I know how this ends already.

"I'm a lesbian."

"We can't even go as friends?" Wood questions.

"Just because they-" she motions to me and Potter with her fork, "-are friends now, doesn't mean we are too. Got it?" Mathilde slams her fork down and stands up. She looks at me and the other girls meaningfully, and leaves the table. By now, we know what that look means. She gave us the "I'm tired of this and I'm leaving" look. When she gives us that look, she normally escapes to the library, her safe place.

It's silent on the table for a moment, when Weasley asks, "Oi, where's Connor?"

Connor Finnegan was the last in the their group of friends. The only thing I knew about him was that it was a real struggle being partnered with him in Potions. He somehow managed to blow up our final potion. Every. Single. Time. Luckily, we never got badly injured, but come on! How can it happen so frequently?

"Think 'e's talking to Longbo'om abou' somefing." Wood says between mouthfuls of toast. He sprays crumbs everywhere, including onto my t-shirt. Lovely.

Potter looks at me and goes to wipe the crumbs off.

"Don't even think about touching me, Potter."

"Sorry, Celia."

"Wilson."

"Celia."

"Wilson."

"Celia."

"Wilson." I could go on forever.

"Celia?"

"Potter?"

"Call me James," he says, "and you just responded to Celia!"

Fuck. I didn't even realise what he'd done. At this point, everyone's dissolved into their own private conversations: Emil and Margot, and Mim, Riko, Wood and Weasley.

"Ok Pott– _James. _You win, I'm tired of this already. Call me whatever you want." I snap, but he just puts his arm around me in response.

I shrug it off. "Don't you have quidditch practice? That goes for you two as well." Mim and Riko stop their conversation with the two other quidditch players, who look at their captain.

Potter - I mean James - looks at the clock and says, "Huh, you're right. It'll be great having you around! See you at dinner!"

The three boys walk to the exit as I just shake my head. "I'm not your personal clock, alright!" I say, but James just smirks.

"Well, I better be going to finish that stupid work I missed," I sigh, "I'll see you guys later I suppose. Emil, remember we're on prefect duty later on." I look at my abandoned toast, but get up from my seat anyway.

The last remaining boy gives me a thumbs up, and returns to his conversation with Margot.

Mim and Riko gather their things as well, and excuse themselves to the library, possibly to find Mathilde. I glance at Emil and Margot, who seem to be in a world of their own. At least some people are happy with the current arrangement.

With one last wave to them (although I don't think they noticed), I make my way back to Ravenclaw tower, intending to complete my work from yesterday.

I make it a corridor away from the entrance when I hear someone call:

"Celia!"

It's a girl's voice, so definitely not Potter. I sort of recognise it as well, maybe from a class or during dinner? I turn around and see Rose Weasley running after me, in quidditch uniform, with her red hair flying everywhere. Although we weren't the closest of friends, I was on good terms with her, having been the only ones left in the common room late at night working on numerous occasions.

"Hey, Rose, what's up?" I smile slightly. She's quite out of breath, so she must have been running after me for a long time. I didn't think anyone would be going to the common room at this time, but stranger things have happened.

"I saw... you and James... at the... Ravenclaw... table... just now..." Rose says, taking deep breaths between her words. She's now taken to clutching her side. Instantly, I feel kind of bad - Rose must have sprinted throughout the whole school just to catch up with me.

"Uhhh yeah. I think we're friends now? Possibly? I'm not entirely sure," I say. But at this point, I don't think she's listening. Rose has got her hands on her knees and she's gasping for air.

"Oh ok... That's... good... Sorry I'm so... out of breath... just finished quidditch practice... then ran up here..." she breathes, "Don't worry.. good exercise... I'll see you later..."

She turns back the way she came and breaks into a run again, voluntarily. The girl is absolutely crazy, but I admire her determination.

Finally, I get to the common room and settle into my usual spot: the table by the window. Before opening my work up again, I take a moment to think.

Will this friendship, or whatever it is, work out? My friends (bar Mathilde) seemed fine with them, so I suppose I would have to get used to their presence. Margot and Emil were getting along like a house on fire, yet Pott– _James _seemed to get on my every nerve.

Looking out of the window, I could just about make out the seven figures of the Gryffindor quidditch team. Most of them were flying about, doing drills, throwing the quaffle, etc. But something caught my eye. One figure wasn't moving at all, just hovering in the air.

I could swear that James just waved at me.

* * *

**hello! another chapter! ****i tried to introduce some more characters in this one- who's your fave? at the moment, celia is meant to sound a bit upright and well, annoying, i guess lol. hopefully james is a better influence on her! so what do you think will happen between margot and emil? will they just be really good friends or something more? any suggestions or feedback is welcomed! thank you to those who have followed and favourited- please leave a review letting me know your thoughts as well!**

**until next time,**

**electric-clementine**


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